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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Tobacco Free Me & Speed

I haven't been blogging as much lately, but my three-year anniversary of quitting chewing tobacco passed on June 5. You can read the original post about me quitting here. Yes, I used smokeless tobacco for about 25 years. No, you probably would have never guessed. But being in and around high school and college athletics, especially baseball, when I was younger - combined with working around a bunch of back-woods rednecks in my adult life - I think I mostly did it just to fit in, until it became an almost unshakable habit. But the good news is I DID shake it ... and it made a huge difference in the way I feel on a daily basis.

I literally used to sit in my car before a marathon, with a dip in my mouth, go out and run 26.2 miles, and then have another dip almost immediately after the race. Pretty messed up, I know. But those days are long gone, and I don't miss it all. So way to go, well ... ME!

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As far as running goes, this is going to sound like a broken record ... but it is FREAKING STIFLING OUT THERE RIGHT NOW!!! That's a screen-shot from my phone at 4:30 a.m. when I started my Speed Workout this morning. The temperature wasn't too bad, but yep ... 100% humidity ... AGAIN!!! If you're fortunate enough to live in areas where the humidity is low, I don't think you have any real idea of what it's like to deal with this every day. It's no joke. It's soooo hard to breath, and it just beats you down, man. But if you stay committed to running in it, it usually makes your Fall races go really well. So there's that!

Today's Speed Workout was short by design. I only did a total of six miles, and I'll do another five tonight. The workout consisted of six 800 meter repeats a little below 5K pace, and then a mile at little below half-marathon pace, with about 90 seconds rest between each. Here's how it went ...

Considering my shirt was completely saturated at about 2 miles into the workout, I felt pretty good about holding the pace. Also, I did the workout on the sidewalk, as opposed to a track, so there were some incline/declines. After the run, I got in a quick leg strength workout, mostly squats and hip stuff. I'll do another five miles tonight, but it will be a very slow pace. Hope your week's going well!... Be Great Today!

4 comments:

Congrats on going tobacco free. I used to smoke (off and on) for a number of years and used chew for about a year as well. That stuff is horrible on your gums and I am so glad I am not trapped by that addiction any longer. However, despite my healthy ways, I still occasionally crave a smoke if the situation is right. But I know tobacco and running generally don't mix.

The humidity isn't fun, especially in the midwest. It can really be a drain on performance as well as motivation. I am dealing with the dry heat now here. Luckily I can run pretty late at night or early morning to avoid it. I actually prefer cold weather running, which is something I can dress accordingly for, versus warmer weather running.

50 After 40

Hi ... Thanks for checking out my journal & notes on running 50 marathons in 50 states after the age of 40.
Running has added so much to my life, and hopefully some of my experiences will help your running in some way or maybe just provide a little encouragement! ... Be Great Today!